WILLARD — Madison coach Tim Niswander slipped a cell phone out of his pocket and snapped a photo of the scoreboard after his team’s 12-2 run rule-shortened win over Clear Fork in Friday’s Division II district championship game.
Niswander wasn’t as interested in the number in the runs column as the zero in the errors column.
“That is goal No. 1 with us. If you look through our season, when we play error-free, we play the whole game well,” Niswander said.
“We’ve been preaching and preaching and preaching we’ve got to have quality at bats and we have to play error-free. When you get to this time of year, you’ve got to do those two things or you’ve got no chance.
“We did both. They played lights-out today, absolutely lights-out.”
Indeed.
The Rams (16-14) could do no wrong en route to the fifth district title in program history and the third under Niswander. Madison banged out 15 hits, while pitcher Bailey Lyons scattered five hits.
“There are three phases to the game — pitching, offense and defense — and they beat us in all three,” Clear Fork coach Jeff Gottfried said. “We picked a bad day to play a bad game against a good team and they are a very good team.”
The Colts (20-9) took a 1-0 lead on Maddi Dion’s two-out solo home run in the top of the second, but the lead was short-lived. The Rams tied it in the home half of the inning on the first of Hope Barrett’s four singles, plating courtesy runner Lynlee Fitzgerald.
The Rams blew it open in the third, scoring five runs on five hits. Barrett had a two-run single in the inning, while Lyons and Paige Eldridge each had run-scoring base hits.
“Hitting is contagious,” Barrett said. “When we’re up and feeling good and we’re all in, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Clear Fork got a run back in the top of the fifth when Dion doubled and came home on Reghan Barker’s RBI-double, but the Rams responded with five runs in the fifth to bring the game to a premature end.
Reagan Hayes had a two-run double in the inning and, fittingly, Barrett ended it with her fourth RBI of the afternoon.
“She’s had nights like that,” Niswander said of Barrett. “She can swing it. She’s an athlete.”
Eldridge added three hits for the Rams, including a double. Lyons had two hits and drove in a run while Hayes had two hits and two RBIs.
Dion doubled and homered for Clear Fork while Barker had a single and a a double. Hallie Gottfried added a base hit for the Colts, who won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title outright.
“I told the girls one game doesn’t define a season,” Gottfried said. “I couldn’t be more proud of what this team accomplished this year.”
Madison advances to next week’s Division II regional tournament at Tiffin University and will play either Lima Shawnee or St. Marys Memorial at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Shawnee and St. Marys Memorial play for a district title at noon Saturday at the University of Northwest Ohio.
